Boehner calls on Obama to ‘get serious’ in talks about federal spending cuts

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday took to the House floor to push President Obama to “get serious” and offer specific spending cuts in the “fiscal cliff” negotiations.

“Where are the president’s spending cuts?” Boehner asked during a rare floor speech that he used to provide an update on the talks. “The longer the White House slow-walks this process, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The Speaker met with the President at the White House on Sunday, but the tone and substance of his remarks on Tuesday indicated there had been no breakthrough in negotiations to stave off tax increases and automatic spending cuts at year’s end.

“It was a nice meeting. It was cordial,” Boehner said. But he added that Republicans were still waiting for a plan from the White House beyond a request to increase taxes by $1.6 trillion over the next decade.

“Even if we did exactly what the president wants, we would see red ink as far as the eye can see," the Speaker said. “Right now the American people have to be scratching their heads and wondering, when is the president going to get serious?”

With talk of tax increases dominating the fiscal-cliff debate, Republicans have pushed to steer the conversation toward spending cuts.

Speaking hours after Boehner, White House press secretary Jay Carney accused Republicans of not putting forth a "concrete" proposal about how they would reduce spending.